Photo: GerritR · CC BY-SA 4.0Coldwater at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, against 12% across Kansas. About two in five stay in Coldwater for work; outside it, Protection is the main destination (15%, 8 miles). The average commute takes 9 minutes each way (Kansas 20, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Coldwater
Coldwater and Protection trade workers both ways
Protection is the top workplace for Coldwater residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Coldwater come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Coldwater are quick
The average trip to work takes 9 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 297 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Coldwater work
Where Coldwater clocks in
15% of workers
4% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
About 9 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coldwater workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 332 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Kansas: 85% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Coldwater
About 30% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Coldwater on a workday afternoon
On a workday 184 residents head out to work, 113 work right here, and 254 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Coldwater on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 367 jobs in Coldwater are
367 jobs are based in Coldwater.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coldwater, 2013 → 2023: 390 → 367. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Coldwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Coldwater: questions
What is the median household income in Coldwater?
$51,338 (±$4,065) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coldwater?
8.2%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coldwater?
9 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coldwater work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Protection (15%, 8 mi), Dodge City (4%, 51 mi), Topeka (3%, 234 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Coldwater without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coldwater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coldwater
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.